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ALTERNATIVE BATTERY MINERALS GAINING FAVOUR
Due to the explosion of the battery mineral market , the hunt has been on to find and develop more affordable alternatives , writes Dr Nicolaas C Steenkamp .
In the past decade there has been a massive global shift towards the utilisation of batteries in an increasingly wide range of applications . The most notable has been in stored power packs from PV ( Photovoltaic ) installations to rechargeable batteries for the Electric Vehicle ( EV ) market that is increasingly putting higher demands on the delivery of critical minerals and metals . This demand has led to some of these minerals and metals being used in geopolitical manipulation of markets and unpredictable fluctuation of prices .
China has been the major producer , importer and beneficiation centre for most of these battery minerals and metals dominating the market . In the past four years China has , however , overplayed their hand in the international market . The response , from specifically Western powers , has been to seek supply security . The measures taken range from fast-tracking mining operations and the construction of beneficiation plants , to passing legislation that supports the circular economy and urban mining efforts , such as the requirement for producers to ensure that metals can more effectively be recovered from devices being recycled . There have also been steps taken to increase the volumes of recycled electronics to be collected and delivered to recycling plants .
The price of critical minerals and metals is , however , driven by demand too . The supply shortage and the long ramp-up periods required to bring new mines and processing plants into production has resulted in the prices remaining high . This has led several high volume producers to spend increasingly more time and funds on developing alternatives that will both ease the bottleneck in supplies and at the same time drive down the cost of batteries .
Reduction of cobalt and lithium demand The London Metal Exchange cobalt price has slumped to a three-month average of USD34 180 / t in March 2023 , compared with a four-year high of USD82 000 / t in May 2022 , with lows of cobalt prices not far from the low USD26 000 / t price average of 2019 .
The slowing of EV sales growth and battery production , combined with the resulting pressured prices of cathodes in mainland China , is expected to place a cap on cobalt prices for the remainder of this year . The subdued demand can be attributed to the elimination of subsidies offered to new buyers by the Chinese government since 2010 .
Demand for cobalt in batteries within consumer electronics such as laptops and phones will remain low in light of
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